The top White House terrorism expert thinks some gains are being made in the worldwide public relations battle against al-Qaeda, as the administration and its overseas allies press efforts to show that Osama bin Laden’s network is killing Muslim civilians rather than defending its interests.

“More and more Muslim and Arab populations — [including] clerics and scholars — are questioning the value of al-Qaeda’s program,” Juan Carlos Zarate, deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism, said Wednesday at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

This is not a PR effort – this is simply presenting the facts on the ground and the results of al-Qaeda’s grisly brutality. The stories out of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan concerning the atrocities al-Qaeda has inflicted on Muslims in order to impose their will are not a PR effort but simply the exposure of the true nature of al-Qaeda. Here is another story from Iraq where Arab Muslims rejoice their new liberation from al-Qaeda:

“Last year Al-Qaeda prevented us from doing any fish farming,” said Sheikh Jaffar Hussein al-Massudi whose village of Khidr, about 60 kilometres (36 miles) south of Baghdad, is slap-bang in the middle of the so-called Triangle of Death near the major town of Iskandiriyah in Babil province.

“Now they’re gone the ponds are being restored, the pumps serviced and the breeding programmes started again,” said the sheikh after visiting hatcheries where eggs milked from females are fertilised, hatched into fry, reared to fingerlings and then stocked in dams fed by the Euphrates.

…

He said that among those who took up residence in Khidr, with its lush green fields, date palms, fish ponds and fruit orchards, was Omar al-Baghdadi, a top leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq who the US military says is a mere “cyber-creation” designed to give the group an Iraqi face.
But Sheikh Jaffar, a gently spoken man in his forties with a bushy moustache, insists Baghdadi was among senior jihadists who set up in Khidr and launched attacks that earned the Sunni area its “Triangle of Death” notoriety.

“For some time he used the farms here as his headquarters,” said the sheikh, adding that all but one or two families in Khidr fled the area when the Al-Qaeda fighters began a killing spree. He too had whisked his family away.

Captain James Hart, of the US army’s 3/7 Infantry Regiment, was among the American and Iraqi troops who finally put the jihadists to flight after a two-month intensive fight which ended early February.

“Until just a few months ago this was a very dangerous area,” Hart said. “Al-Qaeda was in complete control. If anyone came here they would be executed. One of the farmhouses had been turned into a torture chamber.”

For perspective these are the kinds of stories I said would be rippling through the Muslim Street, presenting Islam with the true image of Bin Laden’s Islamo Fascist thugs:

â€œAQI is both feared and hated,â€ Capt Broekhuizen said, referring to Al Qaeda in Iraq. â€œTheyâ€™ve been running a brutal terror campaign. No city leaders are left here who will take a leadership role.â€ Marines from Golf Company said they recently fished two bodies out of the local river: a man had been decapitated, and his 4-year old tied to his leg before both were thrown into the river and the little boy drowned. The killings were a product of Al Qaeda terror.

4 Responses to “al-Qaeda Becoming The Enemy Of Islam, Not the Future Of Islam II”

AJ, I wouldn’t make too much out of any uprisings against al-Qaeda. Muslims (and particularly arab, tribal, or bedouin Muslims) have a long history of siding with those who they think they will win rather than any idealogy they agree with. The poorer al-Qaeda or the Taliban does against western forces, the closer secular elements in those countries can gain support. With some exceptions, of course, those rising up against their tormentors would gladly slink back into the shadows if we were to leave before the job was done.

That all being said, it’s why I have always thought Iraq was such a perfect battlefield to make our move. They were already a secular nation (by middle east standards, that is) and after having gone through Saddam’s brutality and the original Gulf War, they would naturally be the perfect locale to “convert” (for lack of a better word) the masses against radical thought. Unfortunately, it requires our further commitment to keep this ball rolling and you know damned well which party is vehemently opposed to such change in the middle east.
ripe

Are Sadr and al-Qaeda Teaming Up in Iraq?
04/28/2008 1:26:46 PM PDT Â· by moderatewolverine Â· 5 replies Â· 88+ views
Pajamas Media ^ | April 28, 2008 | Omar Fadhil
A few days ago, there were two suspiciously coordinated statements emerging from Iraq. Muqtada al-Sadr made open-war threats followed immediately by a similar threat from al-Qaeda. As they say, there is usually no smoke without fire. Respected Iraqi writer and lawyer Suleiman Hakim (a prominent writer regularly published on the leading Iraqi politics and culture website Kitabat ) reported on April 11 â€” more than a week before Sadr and Abu Ayyub made their threats â€” about serious negotiations taking place between Sadrâ€™s movement and a leader of the Islamic army group. The meetings, Hakim believes, are taking place in…

Kathie, AQ teams with any and all who share a common enemy… even if only for a short time. They teamed with Mulla Omar’s Taliban during the 911 period. Those two factions now are not friendly.

The global jihad movement/enemy is a constantly morphing face. Combine forces, defeat the shared enemy, then go back to squabbling amongst themselves. Thus their friend today can be their enemy tomorrow. So in one way you are correct. They “could” be teaming up (and already may have cooperated in the past) for Iraq operations. But not necessarily in a long lasting relationship.